Thursday, 30 April 2015

World's first: Woman with artificial pancreas delivers normally

A woman with Type 1 diabetes, Catriona Finlayson-Wilkins has become the first (diabetic) woman ever to have a vaginal birth after receiving an artificial pancreas.
The artificial organ was able to monitor her glucose levels during pregnancy using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) which in turn transmitted the information to an insulin pump that calculated and released the required amount of insulin into the body.

She is part of a study funded by the charity Diabetes UK. Three other women with artificial pancreas in the study, had had a caesarean section delivery.

Dr. Helen Murphy, lead author of the study said, "The artificial pancreas is an exciting new technology that may help us to treat diabetes in pregnancy and create a group of healthier mothers and babies."